Geneva - A United Nations expert criticised the Zimbabwe
government on Thursday for alleged intimidation of judges in the ongoing debate
about land reforms in the southern African country. Zimbabwe "has an obligation
to extend protection to those judges who have been intimidated and threatened",
Dato'Param Cumaraswamy, a special UN envoy for the independence of judges and
lawyers, said in a statement. "The deterioration in the rule of law and the
undermining of the independence of the judiciary is a matter of grave concern to
the international community," Cumaraswamy said. The judges have come under
mounting pressure since November, when the Supreme Court ruled that the
government's land reform program was unconstitutional, he said.

Zimbabwe's longstanding program to correct gross disparities in
land ownership dating from the days of white rule last year went into high gear
- dubbed the "fast track" - after thousands of liberation war veterans and their
supporters took over white-owned farms. "Government ministers have publicly
attacked judges accusing them of favouring whites over the black population. ...
The government has also ignored the decision of the court declaring the
fast-track land program illegal," the statement said. The United Nations has
established basic principles assuring the independence of the judiciary to allow
it to act "without any restrictions, improper influences, inducements,
pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any quarter for
any reason," Cumaraswamy said.

From The Mail & Guardian (SA),
25 January

Zimbabwe's judiciary on collision
course with executive

The government accuses the judiciary
of bias while, but is accused of lawlessness in turn

After issuing verdicts in favour of white commercial farmers,
the judiciary in Zimbabwe has incurred the wrath of politicians and war veterans
who want judges out of office for alleged racism. Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa has said the judiciary has placed itself on a collision course with
other arms of government and earned itself the "notoriety that it constitutes
the main opposition to the ruling party." Following a series of verdicts last
year against the government's controversial land reforms, the judiciary has come
under persistent fire and even threats of physical harm from war veterans who
have told them to resign or be forced out of office.

Composed of two white judges, two black judges and one Asiatic
judge, the Supreme Court has been accused of racism and bias. The accusations
over the past year have degenerated into anger, leading to war veterans invading
and disrupting a Supreme Court session and issuing threats of violence to the
judges if they do not resign. "We must begin to exorcise from all our
institutions the racist ghost of (former Rhodesian leader) Ian Smith and we do
so by phasing out his disciples and sympathisers," said the justice minister.
The judiciary, however, enjoys the backing of the legal community, which says
courts simply interpret the country's laws made by the same politicians who are
now heaping blame on them. "The Law Society has not seen any evidence of bias or
predisposition on the part of our courts," said the Law Society of Zimbabwe.

A ruling Zanu PF party lawmaker, Phillip Chiyangwa, said he was
planning to introduce a motion in parliament next month to impeach chief justice
Anthony Gubbay of the Supreme Court. But the National Constitutional Assembly
(NCA), a non-governmental organisation pushing to create a more democratic
constitution, says it finds it absurd that the government is now crying foul
over its own laws. "It is parliament itself, dominated by Zanu-PF, that made the
laws regarding the procedure for land acquisition. Yet the same government is
not following its laws in acquiring land," said NCA representative Douglas
Mwonzora.

The storming of the Supreme Court by some 200 war veterans in
November shows "there is little or no evidence left that the rule of law will be
upheld by some political and other groups enjoying power at the moment," said
the Law Society. Despite the mounting pressure on the judiciary, analysts say it
is not easy for the judges to be removed from office. Greg Limmington, a
University of Zimbabwe political scientist on constitutional law says it is
"very difficult for judges to be removed" and this is to protect them from undue
influence. Judges are appointed by the president and can only resign or retire.
They can be removed from office on grounds of physical of mental infirmity that
incapacitate them from discharging their duties.

Fearing for their lives following threats of violence from war
veterans, Supreme Court judges this week met with the Vice President Simon
Muzenda to seek protection. The president's office said the meeting discussed a
"range of issues about the welfare of the judiciary and the administration of
justice in the country." President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly vowed that no
court ruling would stop the government from implementing the controversial land
reforms because the issue was political and would only be solved by political
means.

From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 26
January

Mbeki pledge to support
Zimbabwe

Johannesburg - South Africa will continue to support the Mugabe
government in Zimbabwe, President Thabo Mbeki said yesterday. His remarks, made
as he accepted the diplomatic credentials of the new Zimbabwean high
commissioner to South Africa, appeared to be a direct snub to Britain after
Peter Hain, then a Foreign Office minister, criticised Pretoria's policy towards
Zimbabwe. Relations between Britain and South Africa came under strain this week
after Pretoria took angry exception to criticism made by Mr Hain over South
Africa's policy of "constructive engagement".

Mr Mbeki said that his government was committed to working with
Zimbabwe on issues such as land reform, the situation in the DRC and economic
development in the region. "We are committed to working together to find
solutions," he told Simon Khaya Moyo, the new high commissioner. "We have to
move forward vigorously." During a holiday in South Africa earlier this year, Mr
Hain said in several newspaper and radio interviews that he thought South
Africa's policy of "constructive engagement" with the Mugabe government had
proved to be a failure. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's foreign minister,
fired off an angry letter to Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, complaining
about Mr Hain's comments.

From The Star (SA), 25
January

Zanu-PF stopped us, say state's own
strikers

Harare - A strike by government employees failed to take hold
on Thursday, with strike leaders blaming intimidation and threats by ruling
party militants that had cowed their followers. Though many schools were closed
across the country, most government departments were functioning at near full
strength. Some civil servants reported for work but were staging a go-slow. The
Public Service Association, representing government workers, called the strike
to protest against a pay increase of 15 percent offered to its members. The
organisation was demanding a scale of raises between 60 and 80 percent to match
inflation.

Givemore Masongorere, head of the PSA, said ruling party
militants and veterans of the bush war that led to independence in 1980 mounted
a campaign of intimidation and threatened violence against strikers. Government
officials were also threatening to arbitrarily fire strikers under the guise of
reforming the nation's bloated and unwieldy bureaucracy. "The most disturbing
feature is the intimidation which has become serious," Masongorere said. As
Zimbabwe faces its worse economic crisis since independence, the government has
said it cannot afford paying out raises of more than 15 percent to the nation's
170 000 government employees.

Police confirmed three striking teachers were assaulted by war
veterans in the southern town of Masvingo on Wednesday, the first day of the
strike. >Veterans and ruling party militants alleged the teachers were
chanting slogans of the opposition MDC and accused them of teaching "opposition
politics" in class. Riot police and ruling party militants staked out a strikers
meeting on Wednesday, outnumbering the strikers and forcing them to call off a
march to government offices in downtown Harare. "Civil servants who opt to go
out are being labelled as opposition ... Some of our public servants now fear to
exercise their right" to strike, Masongorere said.

From The Independent (UK), 26
January

Rebellion in Congo feared as
inauguration delayed

Kinshasa - Officials in Kinshasa blamed "logistical problems"
yesterday for the delay in the inauguration of Joseph Kabila, chosen by military
and political insiders to succeed his assassinated father, Laurent-Desire
Kabila, as president of the DRC. But the time lag prompted speculation of a
power struggle among the main three strongmen in the DRC: the late president's
aide and chief of staff, Eddy Kapend, the Interior Minister, Gaetan Kakudji, and
the Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mwenze Kongolo. The ceremony is
expected today or tomorrow at the Palace of the Nation.

Sources say the new president is expected to appoint a prime
minister or "government co-ordinator", a departure from his father's solo style
and a move likely to give a strong indication of his government's policies and
its attitude towards ending the six-country war in the DRC that began in 1998.
Kabila, 62, who came to power by the gun in May 1997, was shot in his sitting
room in Kinshasa 10 days ago, allegedly by a bodyguard who was later killed.

The president's aides immediately named his son, Major-General
Joseph Kabila, as his successor. Though the new president, said to be aged 30 to
32, is little-known by his subjects, diplomats say they see hints that he will
heed pressure from his allies, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and make peace with
armed rebels supported by Rwanda and Uganda. But the widely flouted Lusaka peace
accords, brokered by southern Africa, will have to be rethought. Diplomats say
plans are already being laid for a meeting in the Mozambican capital,
Maputo.

The war in the DRC, which started when Kabila turned on his
erstwhile supporters, Rwanda and Uganda, has left half of the resource-rich DRC
under occupation. Thousands have died and more than two million people are
homeless. A diplomatic source said Angola did not want to remain in the DRC and
face the possibility of being blamed for continuing the war. Zimbabwe appeared
less categorical about wanting to pull out its 12,000 troops. But the Angolan
President, Eduardo dos Santos, calls the shots.

After Kabila's funeral on Tuesday, the Belgian Foreign
Minister, Louis Michel, influential not least because DRC is its former colony,
began touring the capitals of the warring nations. After meetings in the Angolan
capital, Luanda, and Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, Mr Michel has gone to Uganda
and Rwanda. On Wednesday, DRC's parliament met at the Palace of the People in
Kinshasa to rubberstamp the appointment as the country's fourth president since
independence in 1960 and to declare his late father a national hero.

Joseph Kabila is unknown to most of his people. Military
sources say he is a ruthless leader but few people know personal details, other
than that he grew up in Tanzania and was trained in China. African diplomatic
sources widely rejected rumours that his mother is a Rwandan Tutsi. Some people
say he does not speak Lingala, the main language of Kinshasa. But he does speak
KiSwahili, one of four official languages. And Kamel Morjane, the UN
representative in Kinshasa, who is Tunisian, says he speaks French, the
principal national language, "rather well". So far, Joseph Kabila has made a
good impression among foreign diplomats. One said: "Despite the difficult
circumstances, he has gone out of his way to meet diplomats and to express his
desire for peace."

From The Namibian, 25
January

More Namibian Troops Sent To Congo
Kinshasa

Windhoek - Namibia has reinforced its troops in the DRC as part
of an effort to shore up new ruler Joseph Kabila who succeeded his assassinated
father Laurent Desire Kabila. Defence Minister Erkki Nghimtina confirmed
yesterday that a group of Namibia Defence Force soldiers left Namibia on Monday
"to provide security to heads of states who attended Kabila's funeral". The
Presidents of Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia - Congo's allies in its war against
rebel groups - attended Tuesday's funeral.

International news agencies reported that Joseph Kabila and
other top DRC officials, apparently fearing their own security forces, were
guarded by soldiers from the three allied nations at the funeral. Nghimtina said
the new Namibian troops "will help reinforce the allied forces to provide
security cover to Kinshasa and Lubumbashi". He was unwilling to reveal the
number of troops that left on Monday, saying "what is important is the security
of the Congolese people. The figure of the soldiers is not important. He also
could not say for how long the new troops would be deployed in the DRC.

Regional military sources told Reuters that as many as 6 200
fresh allied troops had arrived in the Congo to reinforce the capital Kinshasa,
the copper and cobalt city of Lubumbashi and the diamond centre of Mbuji-Maji in
response to the vacuum created by Kabila's death. The new arrivals, said to be
mostly Angolans, would bring the number of allied troops to nearly 20 000, the
sources said. The troops are accompanied by medium-to-light field armour,
fighter planes and attack helicopters.

Opposition parties and human right activists yesterday
criticised Namibia's decision to reinforce its troops in the DRC. Said Katuutire
Kaura of the DTA-UDF coalition: "I thought we are a democratic country, but what
we are seeing in the Congo is that we are protecting a monarchy. How do we
justify it to ourselves as a democracy? Our position stands that our troops must
come back from Congo. As it is, right now our budget is escalating. We have a
lot of development projects but in the meantime we are wasting millions in the
Congo." Congress of Democrats President Ben Ulenga said: "We have been dreading
this because it will mean getting further stuck in the DRC morass."

Ulenga said sending more troops to the DRC called into question
the commitment of the belligerents to the Lusaka peace agreement signed in 1999.
"There will be negative ramifications for the country. The Government does not
have the resources. Already the Government does not pump money into the regions.
Any money that gets into the DRC is a loss to our regions or other sectors in
the Namibian economy. But the Government doesn't seem capable of listening any
more." Phil ya Nangoloh of the National Society for Human Rights said reports of
troop reinforcement pointed to a continued state of insecurity in the DRC. He
expressed concern over a report that 300 Congolese people were executed
following Kabila's death. Namibia is believed to maintain between 2 000 and 3
000 troops in the Congo.

These days
being the MDC's Director of Elections is not a pleasant task.The columns of
your paper and those of other independent newspapers arelittered with
articles expressing disappointment, dismay and seeming angerof what the
public perceives as the MDC's inertia and loss of direction.I can see how
these perceptions could arise, but I urge your readers, andthe rest of
Zimbabwe, to look beyond the disappointments and rally aroundthis country
with hope.

I share the frustrations of your readers and those elsewhere
in Zimbabwewho feel disappointed that the MDC's electoral showing has not
yieldedpositive change in Zimbabwe. If anything, ZANU PF has severely
punishedthe country and the people of Zimbabwe for daring to express
theirdemocratic and constitutional rights. It is this punishment in
itsvarious forms that the MDC is being exhorted to respond to. It is not
myintention to defend the MDC, because indeed, I agree that we in the
partyhave made a number of mistakes that have frustrated those who look to
usfor leadership. We have underestimated ZANU-PF's capacity to want
toretain power at whatever cost. Above all, we have sincerely believed
thatthe people of Zimbabwe understand the nature of the beast we
areconfronting.

It upsets me immensely when people legitimise and
glorify beastly violenceand the violation of the Electoral laws of this
country by suggesting thatthe MDC "lost" both the Marondera West and Bikita
West by-elections. ZANUPF is banking on the fact that in relation to
elections in Africagenerally, devalued standards are used to measure the
conduct of suchelection. Only eight short months after the MDC fought a
bloody electionin which more than thirty of its innocent members were
killed, I amdistressed to read sentiments that ZANU PF could ever become a
possiblealternative to the MDC. ZANU PF is a party of evil that hates
democracy,despises pluralism, will peddle racism and other obnoxious notions
tocling to power. How are we in the MDC expected, in all honesty,
torespond to a party whose electoral strategy blatantly unleashes
violenceon the electorate? Press gangs, traditional leaders - in violation
of theElectoral Act - to herd their people to the polls to vote if at the
threatof loss of life and privilege. Should we go in there and physically
blockthose traditional leaders from carrying out these illegal
orders?

Where vote buying accompanied by threats and intimidation has
been done infull view of the press, do we go in to offer more money which we
do nothave, or more threats that our moral standing and convictions
findrepugnant? These are endless violations of the electoral act
attributableto ZANU PF that should be common knowledge to all Zimbabweans.
The courtchallenges that the MDC has instituted are well known so too is
thegovernment's response to those challenges.

It is often alleged
that the MDC has no land policy and therefore has noanswer to ZANU PF's land
policy. Indeed, it is difficult for sane peopleto respond to insanity by
dishing more of the same. What passes for ZANUPF's land policy is a
violent, illegal, disorderly and racist act whosesole purpose is to
obliterate in people's memories ZANU PF's twenty yearsof failure. How are
we expected to counter the macho invasion of a whitefarm by thugs who then
subject the owner to the most abhorrent experiencethat a law abiding country
would immediately deal with, but which in ZANUPF's rule is deliberately
condoned?

Should the MDC organise citizens to enforce the rule of law
and risk acivil war in the process? Or should it count on the maturity of
thecountry's citizens to respond to the MDC's message to the effect
thattheir collective vote in the year 2002 will remove this aberration
andintroduce sanity in the country? Judging by ZANU PF's conduct in the
Juneelections and subsequently in the recent two by-elections there will
beblood-shed in the 2002 presidential elections. What should be the
MDC'sresponse? Meet violence with violence? Contrary to Jonathan Moyo's
crudepropaganda, the MDC is a non- violent party. It is so out of
choice,because it seeks to effect a change so deep that it cannot be
achievedthrough violence. An attempt has been made to misconstrue some
statementsfrom the MDC leaders as suggesting that violence à la ZANU PF
might be anoption for MDC, no such option exists for the MDC. I can
understand thefrustration and the anger that at times leads to the making of
these angrystatements, they are just that, angry statements in response to
immenseprovocation and pressure from a shameless party that is willing to
destroythis country to retain power.

If one is looking for angels,
one will not find them in the MDC. Ifhowever, one is looking for hard
working, honest Zimbabweans, who care fortheir country, the MDC has such
people. They work under greatdisadvantage. ZANU PF has deliberately denied
the MDC access to fundsthat it is entitled to by law. Meanwhile, ZANU PF
uses state funds andstate institutions to demoralise Zimbabweans into losing
hope in change.If the MDC had received such funds, it would be communicating
its messagebetter to the people of Zimbabwe.

I shudder to think that
Zimbabweans would succumb to pressure exerted onthem by the Hunzvis and
Chinotimbas of this world. Despite the MDC'sdifficulties, can we afford a
lawless state where the judiciary isexpected to earn appointment on the
basis of producing a fully paid ZANUPF membership card?

Since I was
elected a Member of Parliament, I have come to understand theenormity of the
task ahead. I know for certain that we in the leadershipof the MDC cannot
achieve much without the sacrifices of all Zimbabweanswho resent seeing
their country abused and destroyed by a few rabid selfseekers.

It
costs $10 000 each time a Member of Parliament visits a ruralconstituency.
Members of Parliament take home $27 000 a month - a lotbetter than many poor
Zimbabweans who have no job at all - however, stillnot enough to effectively
service an expectant constituency. Despitethese obstacles, many MDC
Parliamentarians visit their constituenciestwice a month.

The cry
from 56 MDC constituencies is what are you going to do for us MP?I look at
the abject poverty in my constituency, observe the loomingdrought and watch
a violent decadent party seeking to subdue people in myconstituency by sheer
brute force, bribery and intimidation and I despair.We in the MDC need all
the support we can get in these trying times. Weneed your prayers. Do not
let your despair deny us the strength to resistevil. We are constantly
thinking new strategies to save this country fromdestruction. Above all we
are consulting extensively to come up with anappropriate response to the
introduction of a culture of violence thatseeks to enslave our people. ZANU
PF should never be allowed to continueruining this country. We must all
stand firm, and refuse to swallow cheappropaganda about the MDC's agenda.
We seek to return the country to thegallant sons and daughters of Zimbabwe
who fought for justice, equity andfreedom from fear. Above all we are
resolute in our belief that Zimbabwecan only be stronger if the cultural and
ethnic diversity of its people iscelebrated and not used to incite one group
against the other. A fewweeks from now we will demonstrate that the MDC has
not been sleeping.The people of Zimbabwe will not allow us to fall asleep.
There is workout there and we are doing it.

Paul Themba
NyathiDirector of
Elections~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MDC
Support (Southern Region), Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Phone: +26391241156
/ 7 or +26391244699E-mail : mdcmatsup@gatorzw.com OR 241157@ecoweb.co.zwFundraising
Details:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MDC SUPPORT (Southern Region) FUND -
Make cheques payable to Matilda Trust, and send to P.O. Box 9400, Hillside,
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (clearly endorsed "Support ") or deposit into Barclays Bank,
Main Street Branch (2307), Bulawayo - account number 1996379.For
transparency and accountability, please advise this office of deposits to enable
us to receipt accordingly.VICTIMS OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE FUND - as above, but
clearly endorse cheques for "Victims Fund"SOUTH AFRICA - One of the Party’s
approved Fundraisers is Laurel Zurnamer, who is contactable on +27214473570 or
on cellphone
+27832921407.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~VISIT THE MDC
WEBSITE AT www.mdczimbabwe.com
.

Note: There has been a lot of criticism of the MDC recently,
most of it quite unjustified. More than likely, it is because the average person
does not know what is going on particularly in regard to the hard work that the
party is undertaking on your behalf and often with great personal
sacrifice.

The critics are
mostly those who do not attend our regular meetings at which everyone is updated
on the positive progress being made in bringing true democracy to our country.
It is this specific detail that needs to be shared amongst the community of this
constituency in order that we, in turn, inform others and extend the message
through the network to outlying areas. It is an opportunity for each and
everyone to air his views and ask questions which is a most important aspect of
these regular meetings - the interaction between the MP and his
constituents.

Forthcoming
Meetings

We bring, through the voice of
David Coltart, the MDC at Work for You
!!

Date TimeVenue Speakers

28.01.01 1300
hrs Esihlahleni, The Hon. David Coltart
MP/

(1
pm) Emganwini A.Gumbo

28.01.01 1530 hrs Esingeni The Hon. David Coltart
MP/

(3.30
pm) Nkulumane A Gumbo

29.01.01 1730
hrs Ascot The Hon. David Coltart MP/

(5.30
pm) Racecourse A Gumbo

Please Note: These meetings are held
on a rotational basis and will include other venues, such as the Church of
Ascension Hall, which will be advertised in the near
future.

If you feel that you are in
the dark, then come along and bring your friends and anyone you think who could
benefit from hearing that facts from the horse's mouth.

See you there!

"Never give up for that
is the time and place that the tide will turn"

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
condemns in the strongest ofterms the antics by the misdirected hooligan
section of the so-called "warvets" and other misguided ZANU (PF) elements
bused in from outside thecapital. The continued disregard for the rule of
law the continued use ofterror tactics by ZANU (Poor Finish) and its ailing
and aging leadershipcannot be tolerated.

ZANU (PF) is abusing the
trust of the people by using the "Jonathan Moyo"rented crowds to attack any
dissenting voices, including now theindependent press, which is merely
providing alternative views. Thebarbaric act brings back the horror of a
similar attack by a group of warvets in November 2000 when they raided the
Supreme Court and trapped thejudges there.

Similarly, ZANU (PF) is
misusing the people's appointed traditionalleaders. The chiefs are now
protesting that the judiciary is preventingthe fast track land resettlement
programme when a more thoughtful approachwould have expected them to resist
fast track, as subverting theirauthority as local leadership. Traditionally,
the chiefs are responsiblefor the distribution of land within their local
community. The fast trackprogramme as envisioned by the reeling party,
removes this responsibilityand channels land redistribution through ZANU
(PF) structures. Traditionalchiefs should be above these partisan politics
and be mindful of theirmandate.

The MDC further regrets the partisan
role the police continue to display.Innocent reporters need protection and
not witnesses. To further imaginethat the ZANU Broadcasting Corporation
could not be left out eithercompletes the jigsaw puzzle that the desperate
party is determined tobring its terror campaign in urban areas ahead of the
Presidentialelections.

Unless ZANU (PF) changes its dirty tactics and
saves Zimbabwe from totalanarchy, the nation will relish the opportunity to
relegate its leaders tothe dustbins of history come
2002.

Godfrey
Marawanyika THE southern part of the country —
which encompasses Matabeleland North and South, Beitbridge and parts of Mwenezi
— is bracing itself for a potentially devastating mealie-meal shortage after its
main supply source, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) Bulawayo depot, has run out
of stocks. The fears have been compounded by market speculation that the
country’s grain reserve, the GMB, was rationing maize supplies in anticipation
of a drought.

The shortage had since forced the Bulawayo GMB to acquire
maize from the northern part of the country, mainly from Mashonaland.

Milling industry sour-ces said 15 000 tonnes of maize was being ship-ped
from Chegutu to Bulawa-yo to alleviate an antici- pated drought.

“There
are no maize stocks at Bulawayo and this has since forced the depot to acquire
maize from Lion’s Den, who are going to give them 1 000 tonnes a week,” said the
source.

“We also expect the Chegutu depot to deliver some 15 000 tones
of maize stocks to the province.”

Not only has the Bula-wayo GMB depot
been hit by the shortage of stocks, but it also finds itself harbouring
poor-quality maize which was said to be unsuitable for human consumption. When
milled, the poor quality maize produced mealie-meal which was “darkish” in
colour.

The Bulawayo-based national secretary general of the 120-member
Grain Millers Association, Tumelo Molife, said they had received several
complaints of poor- quality maize being delivered to their members.

“We
are not sure of the inconsistencies at the depots concerned,” Molife said.

“There is a possibility that we are being given old grade maize.

“In some cases we have returned some of the maize because of poor
quality. We need good quality stocks suitable for human consumption, not bad
maize which can only be used as stock-feeds.”

Sources said the problem
was caused by a poor maize storage which resulted in stack-burn — the absorbing
of extra moisture content — and the maize not having sufficient airation.

GMB chairman Canaan Dube dismissed reports that the parastatal was
rationing maize supplies or that some of the reserve stocks were unfit for
consumption.

“We are not aware of any maize rationing in the country.
People are free to buy maize from anywhere. We do not see any reason why maize
should be rationed at this juncture and no such decision has in fact been
taken,” said Dube.

Dube said presently the board had over 600 000 metric
tonnes of maize stocks.

“The figure is 100 000 tonnes more than the
stipulated minimum stock level for the Strategic Grain Reserve of 500 000
tonnes. If the current off-take figures are anything to go by, the current maize
stocks will take us through to the next harvest thus making rationing
unnecessary,” he said.

Dube said the allegations that some of the maize
in the GMB reserve stocks was not fit for consumption were untrue.

Dumisani Muleya CHAIR of the
ministerial taskforce on the fast-track land resettlement progra-mme, Ignatius
Chombo, is working to enlist the support of traditional chiefs and other
accomplices for Zanu PF’s assault on the judiciary, official sources said
yesterday.

Government sources said Chombo, who is also the Local
Government minister, was deeply involved in a campaign to co-opt chiefs in order
to make them willing tools of the state’s current land agenda.

Repeated
efforts to get comment from Chombo were not successful at the time of going to
press. His secretary said he was attending a meeting. Zanu PF and its
supporters, particularly the war veterans, are current-ly on the warpath against
the judiciary. They want President Mugabe to dismiss some judges — although it
would be clearly unconstitutional — who are resisting Zanu PF blandishments and
political interference in the administration of justice.

Sources said
Chombo this week directed senior officers in his ministry, before he met chiefs
on Tuesday in the capital, to put together information to assist the chiefs in
challenging judges.

A well-placed source in the ministry confir-med
being asked to compile information for chiefs before they met Chombo on Tuesday.
The chiefs are apparently not acquainted with the legal complexities surrou-
nding the land issue and thus needed briefings to make contributions in line
with the Zanu PF campaign to turn up the heat on the judiciary.

Chombo
appeared on state television, flanked by his deputy Kembo Mohadi and officers
from his ministry, listening to the chiefs’ apparently stage-managed attacks on
the judges. But the chiefs said nothing new or original. Instead, they merely
regurgitated official pronouncements as well as dark threats against judges and
commercial farmers.

After meeting Chombo, chiefs said next week they
would issue summons to commercial farmers to attend their traditional courts for
trial over land. Council of Chiefs presi- dent Jonathan Mangwe-nde said the
courts shou- ld stop hearing cases on land as that was the domain of chiefs.

“The land was under the jurisdiction of chiefs and we now want to
adjudicate cases on the land ourselves,” Mangwende said this week.

The
chiefs also claimed — as Zanu PF has done -—that the judges were favouring
commercial far- mers on the land issue. They did not provide any evidence to
support their claims.

The chiefs said they wanted compensation from the
farmers for the colonial confiscation of land. The traditional leaders have also
threatened to sue farmers in the International Court of Justice over colonial
iniquities. Sources said chiefs were merely implementing a Zanu PF agenda to
blackmail stakehold-ers in the land issue.

The ruling party is
understood to have mulled a plan to mobilise its supporters to force the judges
out by physical harassment.

Vincent Kahiya WAR
veterans who have been spoiling for a fight with the opposition are limbering up
to reinforce the Zimbabwe Republic Police in crushing the proposed mass protest
being mooted by the Movement for Democratic Change.

Reports reaching the
Zimbabwe Independent this week suggest that hundreds of militiamen are
undergoing crash courses in crowd control and use of tear gas.

The
self-styled war veterans and other Zanu PF hoodlums have of late refined
techniques in violent suppression of opposing views, including assaults on rural
voters. They now appear to be transferring these “skills” to the cities.

Our Bulawayo bureau reports that war vets yesterday stormed and closed
the Victoria Falls council offices in the town centre and Chinotimba township in
protest at their failure to win a tender for the running of a lodge.

Two
companies, Shear- water and Kandah Hire Canoeing, which are housed in the
council offices, were also forced to close.

The war veterans have taken
it upon themselves to bar rural people from accessing certain newspapers which
they feel run articles too critical of the ruling Zanu PF and government.

Reports from Mutoko yesterday said the war veterans were stopping
vehicles along the Harare-Nyamapanda highway searching travellers for copies of
the Zimbabwe Independent, the Daily News and the Financial Gazette. The war
veterans have “banned” the papers from the district.

The war veterans
are preparing to take their brand of anarchy into the urban areas, which are
expected to be centres of conflict if plans for the mass action proceed.

The war veterans’ leadership headed by Chenjerai Hunzvi has called for a
special meeting tomorrow at the party’s headquarters to agree on a strategy to
deal with the proposed protest. A source said tomorrow’s meeting would be a
formality as the veterans had been talking to law enforcement agents to
formulate a plan that would accommodate the militias in government’s policy of
suppressing peaceful protest.

Training of militiamen is believed to be
taking place as part of the police’s regular training of recruits and Support
Unit personnel.

MDC secretary for legal affairs David Coltart yesterday
said the war veterans’ plans were misguided, as there were no real plans for
mass action.

“As vice-president Gibson Sibanda said, mass action has
never gone off the MDC agenda and we are constantly reviewing the situation,”
said Coltart. “There are no real plans to engage in mass action and those
plans by the war veterans are misguided,” he said.

Coltart said the
police had a duty to uphold the constitution instead of conniving with a group
that had clearly demonstrated allegiance to one political party.

Godfrey
Marawanyika THE ZRP has wrecked 300 Land Rover
Defenders — a quarter of the entire fleet — in the space of two years since they
were acquired as part of a British aid package, the Zimbabwe Independent has
established. Another 500 have been involved in accidents although they are still
on the road. A Harare-based car dealer said a Defender tdi 110 last year
cost $2,2 million.

Because of Zimbabwe’s pariah-state reputation, the
possibilities of getting replacement vehicles or new supplies are remote.

Sources within the police force said the major cause of Defender crashes
were tyre bursts and speeding. The problem had been exacerbated by the police
finance department’s refusal to part with funds to purchase suitable
steel-belted tyres for the vehicles.

Police sources said the tyres on
the Defender fleet were unsuitable for Zimbabwe’s bumpy roads and climate — a
claim Land Rover is likely to dispute.

The issue has raised tempers in
the police, with officers questioning why the top brass was not purchasing tyres
which were resistant to bursts. Police spokesman Inspector Tarwi-rei
Tirivavi confirmed vehicles in the department had been involved in accidents.

“There are 756 Defenders which have been involved in accidents, with
some involved in more than one accident,” he said.

He said the accidents
were a result of different problems, both mechanical and human.

“Most
accidents were caused by over-speeding, whilst others were mechanical problems
on the suspension,” Tirivavi said.

Dumisani Ndlela THE International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have offered to take the lead in the
areas of civil service and public sector restructuring, land reform, trade
liberalisation and export promotion should the government decide to embark on an
acceptable economic reform programme, the Zimbabwe Independent learnt this week.

The issues have been left to the government in previous reform efforts,
resulting in the government missing or completely ignoring targets.

In
their communication with the government, the Bretton Woods’ institutions
highlighted that all major indices of poverty prevalence and debt had increased
in recent years and new vulnerabilities emerged due to the HIV/Aids pandemic and
land invasions.

“The poor have been particularly hit by the rising cost
of foodstuffs and public utilities, deteriorating public service provisions,
shortages of imported drugs and medicines, increasing numbers of layoffs in the
private sector and the threatened displacement of thousands of farm workers on
commercial farms scheduled for compulsory acquisition and resettlement,” the IMF
and World Bank said in a report submitted to government last month.

“Moreover, personal violence is increasing in rural and urban areas.”
The two institutions said their response to the problems would be to work
together to monitor the situation in Zimbabwe and prepare appropriate measures
to mitigate the impact of necessary fiscal adjustments in the future as well as
to deal with current problems associated with HIV/Aids and land reform.

“Looking forward, and assuming that the authorities decide to embark
on a comprehensive adjustment and reform programme along the lines
outlined... the (World) Bank will take the lead in the areas of civil service
and public sector restructuring, land reform, social protection, and trade
liberalisation and export promotion,” the World Bank report to the government
said.

The IMF suspended its programme with Zimbabwe which expired last
October over missed fiscal targets and concerns over the land reform programme.

The World Bank and other international donors followed the IMF. The
situation was exacerbated by the country falling into arrears in its debt
repayments to the World Bank.

The country’s external obligations are
understood to have run into accumulated arrears amounting to just over US$500
million by the beginning of this month, with the threat of the country
completely failing to meet all crucial external obligations.

The
government, th-rough the Ministry of Finance, is understood to be laying the
ground for the initial stage of reconciliation with the Bretton Woods twins by
preparing a memorandum of economic policies to revive a relationship which went
sour as a result of the government’s skewed economic policies and the invasion
of white-owned farms.

Subsequent re-engagement would depend on progress
on governance, land reform and macro-economic stability, the IMF has made clear.

Brian
Hungwe THE government has forked out R100 000
for a South African lawyer, Advocate Nazeer Cassim, who arrived in the country
last week to represent government in its legal battle with the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC).

The MDC is challenging a statutory instrument
invoked by President Mugabe in December to invalidate a challenge to election
results in 39 constituencies.

Cassim’s fee, obtained from a reliable
government source, could not be immediately verified as the responsible
authorities within the Justice ministry were reported to be out of the country
or on leave.

Government sources told the Independent that Terrence
Hussein, of Hussein & Ranchod, who is also Minister of Information Jonathan
Moyo’s lawyer, recruited Cassim from South Africa where he is a prominent member
of the Johannesburg bar.

Hussein’s law firm was tasked with representing
the state in the matter and instructing the advocate.

Government sources
said that Hussein flew to South Africa to discuss with Cassim and another
unnamed lawyer their terms of reference. Last month the state applied for a
postponement of the hearing in the Supreme Court as it sought a lawyer from the
Johannesburg bar. The case has now been postponed to March 5.

The
expenses for Hussein’s stay in South Africa were met by the state.

Sources said that Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa and
Attorney-General Andrew Chigovera had no hand in the appointment of Cassim, who
was recommended by Hussein after having been approved by Moyo.

Sources
within the government felt it was more prudent for the AG’s office to hire a
foreign advocate to represent it without necessarily going through another law
firm.

“It is a complete vote of no-confidence in the AG’s office,” the
source said.

“Actually, Chigovera’s office has been condemned.”

Government sources said that Cassim, who is the chairman of the
prestigious Johannesburg bar that has about 600 advocates, was highly regarded
in that country.

Cassim was appointed on several occasions to the
position of acting judge by South African president Thabo Mbeki.

When
the proceedings kicked off in the Supreme Court last week, the AG’s lawyers were
relegated to the periphery as Hussein took control of the situation instructing
Cassim.

The factor prompting the state’s decision to hire Cassim
according to Hussein was that both the country’s two senior counsels, Advocate
Chris Anderson and Advocate Adrian de Bourbon, had been contracted by the MDC in
representing its electoral cases.

Hussein said that it was the AG’s and
the President’s Office that recommended his law firm to deal with the matter
since the president had been cited in his individual capacity.

Hussein
defended his firm’s engagement in the matter saying that private law firms were
best positioned to hire foreign lawyers on behalf of the state.

“If you
were to ask the Minister of Justice to get for you a foreign advocate, he would
not know where to start but I could do it in a few hours because I deal with
them,” Hussein said.

Hussein said that it was the norm that
highly-competent people shou- ld be tasked with representing the state in the
superior court not necessarily to “defend” but “to guide the judiciary in making
a fair decision”.

According to Hussein, the last time the state hired
private lawyers was in the 1980s when British Queen’s Counsels were brought in
to represent it against alleged spies accused of sabotaging planes and
destabilising the country. The state lost.

Asked how much Cassim cost,
Hussein said that it was highly improper for a lawyer or the state to disclose
the costs for representing the state. “I could be struck off the register by
the Law Society,” Hussein said.

Chinamasa was reported to be on leave
when the Independent made inquiries on the matter, with the AG, Andrew
Chigovera, having gone to Zambia.

“IN life Laurent
Kabila was every bit the archetypal banana-republic despot: pot-bellied,
buffoonish and swimming in wealth amid a sea of poverty. He behaved like the
kind of leader every African should shun.”

So declared the Joha-nnesburg
Sunday Times in its editorial of January 21. It neatly encapsulates what most
people outside Zanu PF — and probably many within — think about the man on whose
behalf our president has sacrificed billions of dollars and many lives.

Kabila leaves behind, the Sunday Times pointed out, “a country that is
in worse shape than it was during the rule of his equally objectionable
predecessor, Mobutu Sese Seko”.

Kabila had learnt a great deal from the
man he overthrew, it said. He saw no difference between the nation’s assets and
his own. Which, together with the redundant nationalist rhetoric and spurious
claims to patriotism, explains the affinity between his bankrupt regime and our
own.

But nothing more vividly illustrates the collusion between the two
delinquent regimes as the conspiracy of deceit and dishonesty they entered into
over the circumstances surrounding Kabila’s death.

Leading the way was
the Congolese ambassador who, on Wednesday, January 17, claimed on ZTV’s 8pm
Newshour that as he spoke his leader was being attended to by a team of
Congolese doctors in Harare. Actually, Kabila’s body was lying in the mortuary
where it had been since its arrival in Harare at 8.00 that morning.

The
diplomatic corps based in the capital needs to assure Zimbabweans that
dishonesty of this sort is not part of its collective job description. A little
dissembling here or there, maybe. Outright whoppers designed to mislead the
public, no!

The Congo’s chargé d’affaires in London told the BBC on
Thursday afternoon, January 18, that Kabila died in Harare at 5pm the day
before. Even when the authorities in Kinshasa finally got around to making an
official statement on Thursday night, January 18, they still couldn’t bring
themselves to tell the truth. Kabila died that morning at 10.00 in Harare, the
Information minister said.

In fact he died the previous Tuesday
afternoon in Kinshasa. Attempting to excuse the Zimbabwean government’s
complicity in this web of deceit, “a government spokesman” was quoted in the
Sunday Mail as saying that it was “unAfrican for another country to announce the
death of a neighbour”.

The announcement was deferred for cultural
reasons, said the “spokesman” who seve-ral paragraphs further down was
accidentally revealed as “Prof Moyo”.

“The reason why we decided not to
announce the death,” he disingenuously pronounced, was “because we cherish
African values, tra- ditions, beliefs and customs.”

No government would
announce someone’s death before their next of kin had been informed, he
declared.

So where does that leave Moven Mahachi? Is he not an authentic
government spokesman? Is he not African? He made it clear to Ziana last
Wednesday where and how Kabila died. Then, when the BBC subsequently asked him
if his claim that Kabila was dead on arrival in Harare was not in conflict with
official claims that the dictator was still alive, he responded in that familiar
shrill voice: “No, he died in Kinshasa.”

As Kabila’s family were on the
plane that brought his body to Harare, informing the next-of-kin was evidently
not the obstacle to telling the truth that Moyo claimed it was.

The fact
of the matter is the Zimbabwean public, as we reported last Friday, were
deliberately deceived by their government in order to give the new regime in
Kinshasa time to manoeuvre in relation to other possible contenders for power.

The son of the dead king in this supposed “democratic republic” would
thus be given time to establish himself on the throne.

Moyo proceeded to
tell the Sunday Mail that special editions of the Herald and the Daily News
saying Kabila was dead proved that the government had not interfered with the
news.

Yes, but at what point did the Information department tell the
truth? It said there were “conflicting reports regarding the fate of President
Kabila” when it knew full well his body lay in a military mortuary.

There were indeed “conflicting reports” regarding Kabila’s fate. But the
government declined to disclose the truth about the demise of the late dictator
for reasons that had more to do with the power game in the Congo than cultural
sensitivities. That might serve Zimbabwe’s strategic interest. But it still
exposed the government departme-nt responsible for media relations as deceitful
and untrustworthy.

That would have been rather difficult.
At 8.15pm on Wednesday, January 17, when Baregu made that statement Kabila had
been dead for over 24 hours. What sort of research does Baregu do?

At
least this whole episode has afforded the public an opportunity to assess those
organisations which reported what to the best of their knowledge had actually
happened and those that tried to create a smokescreen around the issue in line
with government policy. The Herald, to its credit, gave its readers as much
information as it could. But others, especially ZBC, were a disgrace.

Patrick Chinamasa has stepped up his campaign to force white judges off
the bench.

“The elements on the present bench associated with the Smith
regime must know and must be told their continued stay on the bench is no longer
at our invitation. Their continued stay is now an albatross around the necks of
our population,” he told officers at the Zimbabwe Staff College.

Chinamasa surely knows that when the people of Zimbabwe speak about an
albatross around the nation’s neck they are not usually referring to the
judiciary. They are referring to his master. And if he insists on removing what
he sees as the residue of the old regime, we shall certainly have to be
consistent and do the same to those appointed under this regime.

That of
course will include the individual who has been pathetically advertising his
candidacy for the top job while appearing to have little grasp of the legal
fundamentals the post requires.

Which people, by the way, does Chinamasa
claim to speak for? He has never received a popular mandate. And in the last
election a majority of people voted against his party.

Jonathan Moyo
might bear that point in mind when claiming the Biki-ta West outcome means “the
people have spoken”. The last time the people spoke — in fact the last two times
— he didn’t take any notice because his employer did- n’t like what they said!

Anyway, we are pleased to have Chinamasa’s admission that Zanu PF
“sedated, drugged and intoxicated” the people in the 1980s. That’s one for the
record.

Who is the “correspondent” who contributed a funny little piece
to the Herald on Monday? Headed “Actual election substa- ntially free and fair”,
it claimed that the Electoral Supervisory Com- mission had issued a report
saying the June election had been substantially free and fair. It then proceeded
to claim that the Commonwealth observer team had said democracy had taken a
major step forward.

It may have done. It also said a lot more about
intimidation and an uneven playing field. But the contributor’s point soon
became clear. He appears to be a state advocate in the forthcoming case where
the MDC is questioning the validity of the president’s attempt to nullify its
challenge to electoral outcomes.

The article was for instance infused
with such false assumptions as “the constitution’s clear intention of keeping
the supervision of elections out of the courts and in the hands of an
independent body such as the ESC...”

Since when has anybody pretended
that the ESC is independent? And who has had sight of its report on the 2000
election?

The state advocate was adamant that the courts don’t have
jurisdiction in matters that fall within the ambit of the president and
parliament.

“If the Supreme Court were to make a ruling in this matter,
it would be interfering with parliament’s sole and exclusive right to make law
in such a manner as it sees fit.”

Now who is likely to be arguing along
these lines? And will the Herald give equal space to the advocates for the other
side?

Meanwhile, we can’t wait to see the outcome of Phillip Chiyangwa’s
attempt to “overhaul” the laws governing the Law Society which he will bring
before the House when it convenes early next month. Chi-yangwa’s case is
driven by the need to see where the society’s president, Sternford Moyo, derives
his power to “attack the government willy-nilly”.

Moyo had taken it upon
himself to demonise the government and ruling party MPs in the name of
democracy, Chiyangwa claimed.

“But our experience is that democracy is
what the masses believe is right and the populist view, and not opinion from the
opposition always.”

Er, okay Phillip, we get the idea. Let’s just hope
you express it better on the day!

Muckraker would like to endorse the
policy of Shakespeare Maya’s National Alliance for Good Governance which
proposes to repossess the land of all those who used their positions in Zanu PF
to obtain it.

Maya announced the policy two weeks ago. Other parties
need to take this up so there is a consensus. And farmers around the country can
supply the names of chefs who have helped themselves to land. Independent
papers can publish lists of those who have benefited from lawlessness and
improper awards. It is important that those involved are exposed — and that when
Mugabe goes they do.

While we are still on the land issue, somebody
should tell the preposterous Joseph Made to stop imitating Jonathan Moyo in
threatening the CFU for exercising its right to publish bulletins on illegal
land invasions and accompanying violence.

If ministers don’t like the
truth that’s too bad. There is nothing they can do and they should shut-up.

Moyo, Made and Ignatious Chombo went to the Supreme Court last Friday
but missed the hearing on the MDC petitions. So they stood around outside the
court in a clump of three with their hands on their hips trying to look
important.

“It was a very funny scene,” reporters atte-nding the hearing
said. “They just looked silly.” But don’t they always?

Two weeks ago
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu was boasting that he would stay as chair of the newly-formed
Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority despite pressure for him to
stand down because as a member of the politburo he was barred from the post
under the authority’s own rules.

“I was appointed on professional
grounds and I don’t see how the latest developments should hinder me from doing
my job,” he told the Zimbabwe Mirror on January 12. No amount of pressure would
force him to go, he told the paper. But the next week he was gone, not so much
with a bang as a whimper. So what happened to change his mind?

Madeleine
Albright said goodbye to colleagues at the State Department last Friday.

One of her most uplifting moments, she said, was watching the Yugoslav
people “toss Slobodan Milosevic out on his ear”.

That thought recei-ved
a round of applause from her listeners. Zimbabweans regret Madeleine won’t be
around for the next tyrant-tossing ceremony.

Seen on a Moyo-made placard
during the Zanu PF demo outside Mugabe’s office day: “Kabila’s dream leaves on.”
And interviewed by ZTV Chenjerai Hunzvi said he was committed to the ideals of
“African Panism. ”

Peter Lovemore
FORTY years ago, on the night of January 17,
1961, a Congolese politician was brutally executed by firing squad in the thick
bush of Katanga, the mineral-rich province which, at the time, was fighting a
bloody war of secession against a Congolese army backed by former coloniser
Belgium.

The slain politician was not just any man, no ordinary
politician. He was Patrice Lumumba, deposed prime minister of the
newly-independent Congolese state which, having been raped by the colonial power
for well over a century, was born in hideous conflict and has never recovered.

Forty years On the night of January 16, 2001, forty years later give
a day, yet another Congolese leader has died at the hands of an assassin.
Laurent Kabila, military usurper of Mobutu Sese Seko’s corrupt, decrepit and
dysfunctional Zairean Republic, has perished at the hands of one of his own
bodyguards.

Once more, this ill-fated Central African giant is
leaderless and the sound of knives being sharpened is clear. It is, of course,
already in turmoil following nearly three years of a disastrous civil war, one
which has become characterised as the DRC conflict by concerned statesmen and
would-be peacemakers everywhere.

The Belgian Congo, Zaire, Democratic
Republic of Congo, call it what you will, is a land with a single, horrible
defect. It is rich. It is rich beyond the wildest dreams of almost any other
country on the African continent.

Its mineral wealth, in particular, is
the stuff of avaricious mankind’s dreams. Beyond that it has jungles, rivers and
soils reminiscent of Eden before man walked on two legs. Alas, like the
beautiful and innocent woman who walks the mean streets of the concrete jungle,
this Congo has almost always attracted the wrong sort of attention.

Its
Belgian colonisers, epitomised by the vicious monarch King Leopold 11, raped it
for over a century. Then they fled. The fiery but articulate aesthete, Patrice
Lumumba, its first indigenous leader, had a vision for his beloved land but the
greedy ones were already baying for his blood, and it was not long before they
had spilled it.

Deposed after barely six months as head of the new
nation’s parliament, his subsequent murder was the work of many sinister forces,
primarily, it must be said, extraneous to the African continent.

His
threat to call in Kruschev’s Soviet forces to help in the restoration of law and
order did not go down well in Eisenhower’s post-McCarthyite America. Nor in the
corridors of power in Belgium, either, which, despite its dishonourable exit,
continued to stir the pot after Lumumba was popularly elected.

We will
never know whether Patrice Lumu-mba would have been the panacea his country so
desperately required.

We do know, with certainty, that the military
strongman who seized his opportunity in the chaos that accompanied the birth of
Congolese independence, Colonel Joseph Mobutu, was not the solution, although
more than 30 years elapsed before this despot could be dislodged.

In
that protracted era in which the warriors of the Cold War ran the world from
their dark dungeons in Moscow, East Berlin, Washington and London, Mobutu was a
“client” of the West, London and Washington’s favourite African leader, their
wedge against communist aspirations on the world’s least-known continent.

Taking advantage of his special status, Mobutu Sese Seko became the
definitive caricature of the corrupt, greedy African leader, stealing his
nation’s wealth on a scale that might even have made King Leopold blush.
However, not even Mobutu could steal everything, although he certainly gave it
his best shot, and even after the demise of his kleptocracy, men still lusted
after his ravaged country’s wealth.

Jovial soldier Then along came
this pudgy, jovial-looking soldier, at the head of a rag-tag army of rebels from
the east, and for a while, only the briefest of whiles mind you, hope flickered
in ordinary African breasts that Laurent Desire Kabila would succeed where all
before him had so conspicuously failed.

Having immediately rechristened
his “new” land the Democratic Republic of Congo, as if the mere use of the word
democratic would automatically render it so, Kabila’s only other legacy has been
a war which threatens to engulf and impoverish many of the nations in the
surrounding region, not least among those our own Zimbabwe.

New
colonisers And once more it has been the irresistible attraction of untapped
wealth which has drawn in the latest band of hard-eyed would-be exploiters, this
time, though, of African origin.

Zimbabwe’s ruling cli-que is at the
very forefront of this extra-territorial adventurism. Forget all the guff about
regional solidarity, the protestations of altruism and the hypocritical
expressions of grief which have accompanied the DRC’s latest political
assassination, this is about one thing, and one thing only — mineral wealth.

It is not for the people of Congo, or Namibia, or Rwanda, or Uganda and
it certainly is not for the people of Zimbabwe who, since that fatal decision
was taken in August 1998 to “assist” a so-called ally, have seen their own
country set upon on the dangerous journey into poverty and economic deprivation.

This is what most people in Zimbabwe will remember Laurent Kabila for —
their own country’s disastrous and detrimental involvement in his country’s
affairs, so it is little wonder then that news of his death was received in many
insta- nces with unrestrained jubilation.

His Congo has become our
Vietnam. And whilst millions around the world wept for Patrice Lumumba, few
will do the same for Laurent Kabila.